Waiting for a home // MAP

PANAMA CITY — Jacqueline Trabal has lived in public housing with her 15-year-old son for about five months and compared to her previous situation it is “paradise,” she said.

ZACK McDONALD | The News Herald

PANAMA CITY — Jacqueline Trabal has lived in public housing with her 15-year-old son for about five months and compared to her previous situation it is “paradise,” she said.

Moving from a notoriously crime-ridden area of New Jersey, she was lucky to be accepted for an apartment at the Panama City Housing Authority within a year’s time, Trabal said. Though her apartment at Frank Nelson housing development on 15th Street is a snug two-bedroom, the $450 she pays for rent and utilities each month is low enough to keep her satisfied. In the year prior to moving in, stretching the money from her disability payments for food and shelter of her family in a standard rental apartment was a struggle.

“It was rough,” Trabal said. “For me to pay the whole rent, there would be no way. With groceries and everything becoming more and more expensive, having an easy rent to make helps a lot.”

Trabal now has a safe and affordable place to raise her son, she said. She does not worry about crime and only rarely has to weigh out which groceries she cannot afford that month. The only downside from where she stood — Florida’s infamous palmetto bugs.

She is one of about 400 low-income individuals, families and elderly of Bay County living in 23 low-income housing sites who get rent assistance from the Panama City Housing Authority.

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Many economists argue any money saved on rent is spent directly at local businesses on groceries, clothes and household necessities. However, people applying for residency can expect the process to take years, and background checks, including credit reports and eviction history, exclude a large portion of the least fortunate.

The wait

The Housing Choice Voucher program, or Section 8, provides housing assistance to people in need based on a variety of factors, including income levels, family size and geographic location of an applicant and their family.

The Panama City Housing Authority receives funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for housing on the private market. Vouchers issued to single income earners of $0 to $20,250 per year can cover up to 70 percent of rent payments. Families of eight can earn up to $38,150 and still qualify for a voucher.

And as long as the recipient does not exceed income limits, a voucher can be renewed indefinitely, Housing Authority officials said.

The Housing Authority used to report how many vouchers were needed for the budget year and HUD would multiply funding for each voucher by that number. Now they are allocated a fluctuating amount annually and the Housing Authority carves out how many vouchers the funding can cover.

Waiting lists are mandatory for all Section 8 housing communities to conduct background checks, but because of the change in how the vouchers are funded by the federal government, Panama City’s list is extensive.

A 50-page waiting list sits on the desk of Joe Woods, executive director of the Panama City Housing Authority. Within its pages are the names of 734 people, many with children, waiting for something to come through in the way of stable, affordable housing in Bay County.

The minimum amount of time any of them can expect to wait on the list is about two years, Woods said.

In the past few years, not only has the Housing Authority been restricted to releasing fewer low-income housing vouchers, down from 418 to about 360 vouchers a year, but the rate of families transitioning out of low-income housing on a monthly basis has slowed to near stagnation.

“People just aren’t moving out of Section 8 housing like they used to,” Woods said.

Ten years ago, Woods remembered, about 15 families each month would move through the revolving doors of low-income housing. By the end of 2013, that number had dropped to about three or four.

“Either they got jobs, they moved from the area or, for whatever reason, they would move off our program,” Woods said. “I don’t know for sure, but I would say the economy has made a difference. People can’t load up, take a job in Atlanta and risk losing that voucher, so they stay — which is smart on their part.”

Though the Housing Authority’s budget increased from about $1.9 million in 2005 to $2.3 million in 2013, the number of vouchers has declined because of increased living expenses.

“Just like going to the grocery store, those prices have gone up,” Woods said. “Utilities have gone up and rent has gone up so that money does not go as far.”

Public backlash

While several options to fund development of additional low-income housing exist, Bay County homeowners are leery of increases in crime rates and decreases in property values for neighboring residences. Though some low-income housing can contribute greatly to an area’s tax base, elected officials have been reluctant to approve more of the housing developments.

Residents of the Glenwood community in September rejected a proposal for low-income housing on half the site of the A.D. Harris Learning Village.

Several factors contributed to the proposal’s ill reception, including the developer’s history in the community, but Glenwood representatives raised concerns of increases in crime and decreases in property values of nearby residences.

The Rev. Rufus Wood, resident of the area, was the community’s most vocal opponent of the Paces Foundation, Smyrna, Ga.-based, which only two years earlier started building Panama Commons on Sherman Avenue despite public disapproval.

“That didn’t go down right the first time and that left a bad taste in the community’s mouth,” Wood said. “We did not feel that was right for that community. And it was almost like, ‘Y’all are going to get this whether you like it or not.’ ”

However, concerns opponents drummed up of plummeting living standards surrounding Panama Commons are not supported in city records. Panama Commons has seen fewer police calls than three other comparably sized, low-income housing developments throughout the city.

A central Panama City low-income apartment complex received 462 responses from police since May 2011, when Panama Commons opened. Another received 429, while Panama Commons, in the same time period, had 55 responses.

“The stigmas they brought up are not there,” said Commissioner Ken Brown, who represents the ward. “All I’ve seen has been positive.”

Research of property records for immediately adjacent single-family houses does not indicate a dramatic decrease or increase in either direction. Only one property value increased by about $40,000 without significant additional structures, according to Property Appraiser documents. All other homes either remained at the same level, as far as assessed value, or decreased by about 2 cents on the dollar.

Wood attributed the discrepancies for low-income housing developments in Panama City to the passage of time, since Panama Commons is relatively new.

“When they build them, it’s beautiful and over a period of years deteriorates,” Wood said. “It doesn’t happen overnight.”

Commissioner John Kady, one of the city’s most vocal opponents of federally subsidized housing developments, echoed the community’s concerns.

“Eventually in these communities, over time, the quality of workmanship degrades and management is nowhere to be found, because the developers can walk away from it shortly after it is built,” Kady said.

Paces representatives mentioned at the town hall meeting they would not be responsible for any low-income housing project after 15 years. The admission further sealed the development’s fate for meeting attendees.

Revenue and compatibility

City commissioners approved groundwork for more than 5,000 homes in the past year, which would contribute to the city and county tax base, but denied low-income and elderly developments, which also are not tax-exempt.

Plans for 80 units of affordable housing on the site of the Marie Hotel in downtown Panama City also met community opposition causing members of city’s planning board to table plans until February for further research.

In 2011, Paces struggled with obtaining a development order through the planning board, the commission and community backlash but eventually constructed Panama Commons at 1001 Sherman Ave., a 3.46-acre lot now valued at $6.6 million. In 2013, the property generated $91,659 in tax revenue. Of that, $25,540 goes to Panama City coffers, according to tax collectors.

Though Panama City fits the criteria for contractors to receive subsidies to build low-income housing, Kady said, the developments were not compatible with the city.

“When the federal government or state comes in and heavily subsidizes that type of housing, it interferes with the natural market, and people who have housing for rent are put at a disadvantage,” Kady said. “They’re pumping all kinds of money to subsidize developers and it messes up the market.”

Kady echoed the Glenwood community’s concern of Panama City turning into the “affordable housing capital of Bay County,” though that already appears to be the case. In total, 23 public housing or Section 8 housing complexes are in Bay County and 12 of those call Panama City their home.

Kady said other portions of Bay County should step up to assist low-income earners.

“There is a need for a balance for affordable housing in the broader community — on the beach, Lynn Haven and Panama City,” Kady said. “Because of federal requirements of proximity to medical facilities and grocery store locations, they don’t hit up these other communities as much as they usually do in Panama City.”

Only one low-income development is located on the beach side of the Hathaway Bridge.

But, with vouchers to supplement rent remaining at currently funded levels, Woods disagreed that more low-income housing developments would help, and instead said building more affordable housing would be an empty gesture.

“The only solution I see is to put people back to work,” he said.

Headway

Despite the negative reception of a low-income apartment complex on the historic site in Glenwood, officials said a silent majority of residents within the community would favor an affordable housing development — one that would specifically benefit elderly residents who have contributed to the community.

Brown never heard back from the Paces Foundation as to whether a second presentation would occur.

“The real intent was overshadowed,” Brown said. “But I’m still looking for emails, phones calls or any other kind of feedback regarding another site for elderly housing.”

Brown said he would be “willing to sit down and listen to any suggestions,” but a housing development would not proceed without the consent of the people.

Many of his constituents favor elderly apartment complexes because many homes of elderly residents are dilapidated.

If another contractor wanted to build something along those lines in the city, Brown said he would “bring it to the people,” he said. “It’s different here in Glenwood than the other site. We want it here.”

“This is all about the senior citizens and bringing more commerce,” Brown said. “Some people can’t see the long-term benefits. … There are many things they are not looking at.”

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